NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 100 all-new super-simple and incredibly delicious one-pot, one-pan, one-sheet—one-everything!—recipes from the star food writer and bestselling author of Dinner in French.ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE Food & WineMelissa Clark brings her home cook’s expertise and no-fuss approach to the world of one-pot/pan cooking. With nearly all of the recipes being made in under one hour, the streamlined steps ensure you are in and out of the kitchen without dirtying a multitude of pans or spending more time than you need to on dinner. Expect to find a bevy of sheet-pan suppers (Miso-Glazed Salmon with Roasted Sugar Snap Peas), skillet dinners (Cheesy Meatball Parm with Spinach), Instant Pot® pinch hitters (Cheaters Chicken and Dumplings), comforting casseroles (Herby Artichoke and Gruyere Bread Pudding) that you can assemble right in the baking dish, crowd-pleasing one-pot pasta meals (Gingery Coconut Noodles with Shrimp and Greens), vegetable-forward mains, and dozens of tips for turning a vegetarian or meat-based recipe vegan. And since no dinner is complete without dessert, you'll find a chapter of one-bowl cakes, too—from an Easy Chocolate Fudge Torte to a Ricotta-Olive Oil Pound Cake. These are simple, delicious recipes for weekdays, busy evenings, and any time you need to get a delicious, inspiring meal on the table quickly—with as little clean-up as possible.
Melissa Clark is an American food writer and cookbook author. Since 2007, she has been a food columnist for The New York Times. She has written more than 40 cookbooks and in 2018 won a James Beard Award.
I borrowed this book from the library to taste-test recipes for three weeks and this is what I came away with 1) I will, most likely, be purchasing this book to add to my shelves because most of the recipes are delicious (still working on my husband on the whole tofu front...but still so many other recipes I haven't had a chance to try yet!) 2) I love the concept of doing a whole meal in one pan or one pot, but once one gets done with all the chopping and mixing and seasonings, there is then a counter overflowing with things to wash, so I didn't find any sense of ease or simplicity in that whole aspect of the book. BUT 3) I love all the new flavors and ingredients this cookbook introduced and, unlike other cookbooks, when I bought a unique ingredient for a specific recipe this cookbook then used it in MULTIPLE recipes so I didn't feel like anything was going to waste. 4) From start to finish, I could have a very tasty meal on the table in 45 minutes or less.
Dinner in One contains, as it says, dishes you can make in one pan. This includes appetizers, soups, stews, dips, meat and veggie bowls, and desserts. A wide range of culinary traditions from each continent are included. Be aware, however, not all of the recipes actually qualify as a meal. Some are starters. Some are side dishes. Some are desserts. There is a good representation of vegetarian and a few vegan dishes.
There are some dishes that beginners can do easily but most fall into the intermediate skill range.
I have tried 8 of these recipes and they were all clearly explained and easy to make. They were all delicious. The ones I tried did not require equipment or seasonings I did not have. Some did require a lot of prep work (mostly lots of chopping) but once done the dishes themselves did come together quickly. They were all delicious.
I am glad to have this book in my cookbook library but be aware of your skill level.
I loved these delicious and easy looking recipes. Most were healthy and veggie forward, but there are some great calorie splurges too like a savory bread pudding and a chocolate torte. I will be making many of these soon!
All of these recipes didn’t look great to me in that they looked like things I could and do already make. There was really nothing I wanted to try. This is why I always get books from the library before committing to purchase.
I marked 10 of 100 recipes I'd be interested in making. Good photography but no storytelling. I really liked the "swap it" feature of most recipes in this book. And even though I'd only rate this 3 stars, the chapter on sheet pan dinners would make a a worthy purchase-but I'm glad I borrowed it from the library, instead.
Have yet to make a recipe, but I’ve bookmarked about 3/4 of the book and plan to start this week! Melissa Clark provides plenty of substitutes making almost any recipe adaptable to your dietary preferences. Thanks to Marcella for the book!
I heard about this cookbook on NPR and had to try it. Now I'm telling everyone about it.
The first dish I tried was good, so was the second, and the third. And then I had to own the cookbook. Where I end up making only one or two recipes per cookbook, I've found each meal is enticing and nutritious.
I've made over a dozen recipes and each is yummy. The pictures that accompany each dish are very helpful as are the hints for making each dish vegetarian or vegan. The dishes serve 4 people with NO leftovers, NO extra.
What's lacking? prep time and if the dish freezes (for us single person households). For the most part, the dishes take an hour total to prepare and cook. I've frozen a few meals but most are small enough portions that there's a second meal if you are serving 2 people.
My friend, who I cook for and share meals with regularly, purchased a copy for me. It's one of the best gifts ever!
One pot dinners are easy and a great solution for busy people, but they're not all the same. I'm a sheet pan fan, and love my slow cooker and a good casserole. The whole instant pot phase is lost on me, and instant pots and skillets require me to pay attention - it's active cooking. I want it easy and I want to be doing something else while dinner is cooking. So, I'm always on the hunt for tasty, healthyish recipes that meet this criteria.
The sheet pan chapter here really delivers, with some great chicken and one fab pork dish that are really good. The slow cooker chapter wasn't that appealing to me, but there is a chicken and snap pea casserole that is amazing. So, I think it's worth checking this book out if you're looking for a fast easy way to get dinner on the table every night. Clark's recipes are clear, easy to follow and very accurate. She consistently delivers on taste. But there may be entire chapters of this book you skip. Which is OK:)
Wow—this is my new jam for 2023. I want to cook 98 out of these 100 recipes. Lacks a bit of the narrative, gossipy tone that Clark sometimes employs, but it still feels personal and compelling. Really just crave-worthy and smart.
Oh how I love to read a good cookbook!!! But an amazing cookbook will send me into plans of meals to fix, when, & who to invite, this hit all those points for me.
This is an awesome idea/cookbook. I appreciate having some meals that have a maximum of flavor with a minimum of kitchen mess.
A few are improvements on a more pedestrian-like recipes I have tried with the flavors amplified: “Tarragon Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Butternut Squash”, with the addition of honey and red pepper. Brilliant!
But most are unique flavor profiles that use one pot and are going to be favorites: “Cumin-y Chicken and Rice with Peppers and Peas”…tomorrow?
Thank you, Melissa Clark, for inviting me into your kitchen so I can have exceptional one-pot meals in my home too.
I checked this out of our library, there are a lot of inventive recipes that I plan to try. It looks like a good companion to Ali Slagle's "I Dream of Dinner".
Loving this simple approach to getting tasty food on the table. Many omnivore dishes, many which are a bit cheese-heavy. Great selection of vegetarian/vegan dishes that don't use meat imitations. Everything I have made from this book, so far about 7 dishes, has been delicious.
Picked up this book on a whim at the bookstore. I love Melissa Clark’s recipes in NYT, and this book is (as its title aptly includes) exceptional. I’ve made several recipes, and I love how easily they come together, using ingredients I typically have on hand, and end up with meals which turn out delicious every time. Bonus pints for including notes on how to ‘Veg it up’, making it very vegetarian/flexitarian friendly. This will be a cookbook I turn to time and again!
There’s nothing that Beats 1 pot/pan recipes. These recipes are unique looking without being fussy or pretentious. And, again, the fact that they’re 1 pot/pan? Sign me up.
Ample pictures abound of the recipes, conversions are included for non US readers, and the recipes just look GOOD and tasty. Will definitely be purchasing a copy of my own.
Melissa's newest book is our dinner problems (or should I say dinner prayers?) answered and printed into a beautiful book by Ten Speed press. First recipe struck in my heart was the chicken tagine on page 24! I tried all swapping options and it always turn out to be delicious. It's even better a day or two after! I served it with a side or rice, some tortilla wraps (which is most of our everyday lunch).and it keeps getting better!
My second favorite recipe is meatball sub sandwich with two meatball parm recipes! It has never been easy as this Melissa's recipe!
As per the book's introduction, this book truly is a great collection of exceptionally easy one pan meals!!!
Thank you, so much Ten-speed books, for the free book, for I have written this free and unbiased review.
Five stars: Melissa Clark is my girl and I swear by her NYT Cooking recipes. As a renter without a dishwasher, I was excited by the one-pan meal concept and all the recipes look super approachable and streamlined. I've immediately put post-its on at least ten recipes I want to make ASAP, which is a blessing because during the long cold months of Canadian winter, it's a gift to just be excited about making dinner.
Who doesn’t love Melissa Clark?! This woman has written approximately 10,000 cookbooks, and it shows in her recipes, which always turn out for me. She is such an asset to @nytcooking, and she’s fun to listen to on food podcasts as well.
Clark says this book is the culmination of her decades of recipe development. Each recipe is designed to be cooked in/on one vessel – pot, sheet pan, Dutch oven, etc. – to streamline cooking and reduce dishes. I think the stereotype of one-vessel meals is that they’re basic or boring or like “dump a bunch of packaged shiz in a Crock-Pot” (no shade, some of those recipes are incredible) anti-cooking. The recipes in this book definitely have more of a foodie bent, with lots of international flavors and ingredients that bump up the flavor to save you time and effort.
And yet I also think this cookbook is more family-friendly than the comparable I Dream of Dinner by Ali Slagle, which I also loved. Slagle’s dishes struck me as better suited to singles and couples, in portion and vibe – snacky dishes, barebones meals, open-to-interpretation ingredient lists, etc. Dinner in One’s recipes feel more like “square” meals for a whole family, with an intentional balance of proteins, produce, and carbs. (A note for veg friends: Half the recipes in this are vegetarian, and most of the non-veg ones have “spin it” ideas to veganize them.)
The recipes are easy, straightforward, and have all been tasty. I also love that she includes methods for basics like rice and polenta, and that she has a chapter devoted to one-bowl cakes! The latter have been perfect for my casual, often last-minute baking style.
While the premise is good, the recipes are not for meals like I cook. I did not find any recipes I wanted to try. The book is well done and slick, just not my bag. Melissa Clark brings her home cook's expertise and no-fuss approach to the world of one-pot/pan cooking. With nearly all of the recipes being made in under one hour, the streamlined steps ensure you are in and out of the kitchen without dirtying a multitude of pans or spending more time than you need to on dinner.
Expect to find a bevy of sheet-pan suppers (Miso-Glazed Salmon with Roasted Sugar Snap Peas), skillet dinners (Cheesy Meatball Parm with Spinach), Instant Pot(R) pinch hitters (Cheaters Chicken and Dumplings), comforting casseroles (Herby Artichoke and Gruyere Bread Pudding) that you can assemble right in the baking dish, crowd-pleasing one-pot pasta meals (Gingery Coconut Noodles with Shrimp and Greens), vegetable-forward mains, and dozens of tips for turning a vegetarian or meat-based recipe vegan. And since no dinner is complete without dessert, you'll find a chapter of one-bowl cakes, too--from an Easy Chocolate Fudge Torte to a Ricotta-Olive Oil Pound Cake.
These are simple, delicious recipes for weekdays, busy evenings, and any time you need to get a delicious, inspiring meal on the table quickly--with as little clean-up as possible.
I've long been a fan of Melissa Clark, especially her cookbooks. I was excited to try this one when I heard of it. I picked it up at the library to test out a few recipes before committing. This book features recipes cooked in one pan or sheet tray. I love this concept as it perfectly fits my stage of life right now. Plus, my husband, the dishwasher always loves a one pan meal! Melissa makes suggestions on how to veg it up, make it vegan, slow it down, and other easy changes to make each recipe perfect for your family's taste.
Here's what we tried: Full English Breakfast, p. 34 - My family loved this one! I adapted it to cooking scrambled eggs in a different pan, but I am for sure making this one again. Cheesy Meatball Parm, p. 66 - super tasty! Cavatelli with Butternut Squash, Ricotta, and rosemary brown butter, p. 117 - hearty and delicious. My kids didn't love it, though. Tender Chicken in a pot with pearl couscous, lemon, and mint, p. 135 - so tender and delicious. Plus made a ton. I was able to take some to a neighbor. Spicy tomato white beans with sage, pecorino, and garlicky corstini, p.216 - these are the types of vegetarian meals I love.
After the crazy saga of the first printing of this book lost at the bottom of the ocean (!!) l had to take a look. I think the premise is excellent and I’m a fan of one pot/one pan cooking. There are lots of us who like to cook but not to wash dishes. I really liked that there are recipes for sheet pans, Dutch ovens, soup pots, casseroles, and instant pot. I’m a big IP fan, I grew up with pressure cooked food in India and think an electronic pressure cooker is genius.
I haven’t tried any of the recipes yet but first on the list is the Cheaters’ chicken and dumplings that uses gnocchi for the dumplings and is cooked in the instant pot. I already do a one pan gnocchi in a sheet pan that’s amazing (look for the Bon Apetit recipe) and am so intrigued by this idea.
Dinner in one is a godsend for busy families that still like to cook from scratch and eat well. Points for suggestions on how to “veg it up” and make other substitutions.
Impressive collection! Not every recipe has a photo, which is my cookbook pet peeve.
But the chapters have enough variety to keep things interesting. The soups and instant pot recipes are geared toward cooler weather, but so are the sheet pan dishes—you won’t catch me cranking the oven 400+ degrees in the middle of summer.
We tried and LOVED the Shrimp Scampi with Orzo and Tomatoes. We adore orzo and will be adding this to our rotation. An excuse to keep white wine in the pantry is always nice.
She provides lots of substitution ideas and ways to turn the meals vegetarian and even vegan. Very inspiring, as sometimes people forget that you don’t have to follow recipes to the letter. It’s okay to switch up the vegetables from the ones listed!
The addition of one-bowl cakes—a favorite of mine, as a baker—is appreciated, though a few of lean in the same direction of pound cake.
Melissa Clark wrote one of my favorite cookbooks so I had to check out this newish one. I thought it had a lot of recipes I want to try but since I'm leaning more vegetarian in my home cooking I did feel that there was a lot of meat here. But that's just a me thing. My one issue with the book is that I'm not sure they all quite meet the definition of one pot/pan/whatever. Like if you're having to marinate meat or something in a bowl, in addition to using at least one cutting board in addition to putting all the things on a sheet pan, is that "dinner in one"? That's still a lot of dishes to wash. I know you can't get away from using a cutting board at least, but I want to skip using the additional blender or bowl or whatever is adding more dishes. But that's more of a marketing/naming issue. The recipes look good and mostly not difficult so I think it looks like a good cookbook. I'm already cooking out of it for my dinners this week. I've only done one so far (baked lemony feta with tomatoes and sweet peppers) but it was great.
If possible, I always check cookbooks out from the library before I purchase them.
While I was thumbing through this one, I kept thinking that I'd purchase this cookbook for the one pot Asian and stir-fry recipes alone! Then I kept going and found I felt the same for the Italian and pasta dishes.
In short, the recipes appear comforting, healthy and flavor-filled without the hassle of dirtying so many dishes for the end result. Which seems to even be a problem for me with meal-kits! "Sure, you gave me all the ingredients with the exact steps to get something delicious on my table; but I've never used so many dishes before! It'll take me twice as long to clean this up."
I got super hungry reading through this entire cookbook when it arrived today, but I do wish there were alternative cooking directions for the chapter on recipes for “Instant Pots & Multicookers”. For those of us who choose not to use these additional cookware items in our kitchens, it would be nice to have an idea about other cooking times for stovetop or ovenware.
It would also be very helpful to have a general idea about preparation and cooking times along with the number of servings which are noted with each recipe.
Other than that, let me at those sheet pan dinners and one pot meals! I’m starving after reading each recipe and admiring the outrageously beautiful photos of the dishes.
I’m honestly so impressed by this cookbook. The pictures are beautiful, the layout is amazing, and the couple of recipes have been delicious! (I do up the spices in pretty much every recipe, but that’s more of a personal choice.)
I will say that while these recipes use one pot, pan, cooker, etc- they are NOT easy. These are what I call my weekend recipes— things I make when I have a little more time. I am not a novice cook and I still find some of these recipes quite complex.
For me this book was worth the purchase. Yummy recipes with good instructions, but they are not quick or simple. Plan for everything to take at minimum 30 minutes to cook and depending on kitchen competency- another 30 minutes to prep.